Terra Nullius, an exhibition, a book by Viviane Dalles

Terra Nullius, from the Latin, describes a land without an owner. Whilst it may be inhabited, it is not actively farmed.
During the colonisation of Australia by the British in 1770, the principle of Terra Nullius was evoked in a bid to legitimise the continent’s invasion. In 1992, the High Court of Australia retroactively invalidated this principle following a fierce battle for the recognition of Aboriginal land rights.
The majority of Australia’s population lives on the continent’s periphery. Nevertheless, almost 10% of Australians call the barren centre of the country home, an area which covers 70% of the territory.
This photographic essay was largely undertaken in the Northern Territory, where time and distance seem endless. The people of the Outback adapt to the lifestyle that their isolation imposes, accepting their vulnerability to an often savage landscape.
I crossed paths with Franck, an Aboriginal healer, Mike, AN Australian-Maori boxer, Sarah, a 24 yearS old pilot, Henry, an 11 yearS old boy driving a 4 wheel drive, Eddy for whom his native land holds no secrets and many more people who shared a fragment of their lives with me, a grain of sand from their desert.
Rugged and magnificent, violent and luminous, this savage landscape and the people who live within it; a story of personal adaptation.(Viviane Dalles)

TERRA NULLIUS – An exhibition
60 prints of this body of work will be exhibited from the 31st of June to the 31st of October 2012 at the Museum of Millau, France

TERRA NULLIUS – A Book
For this occasion, I am working with the CrowdBooks Publishing platform, in order to publish a book. This book [FR/Engl.] can be pre order online. I invite you to watch the teaser in English and in French: www.crowdbooks.com